The interior portions of building construction are initially concerned with providing walls between building compartments and, in some cases, walls which may be required to withstand certain extraordinary pressures and conditions. For many years plywood and plasterboard were the primary materials involved in the production of panels which were standardized and used to provide these internal walls or barriers. Typically, such would come in sizes of 4.times.8 and would be disposed vertically. Additionally, interior building construction concerns flooring and ceilings.
Of particular interest in these structural panels are their qualities of strength; resistance to the passage of sound through the panel (its acoustic properties); resistance to fire and smoke; weight, resistance to being damaged by exposure to water or moisture; the ability to provide a flat surface; and the ability to be manipulated or positioned and fastened by nails, screws, or other building fasteners. Additionally, such structural panel should offer resistance to and protection from the elements of weather, insects, and provide good thermal insulation properties.
The Inventor previously obtained U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,039 in which vermiculite was used in a structural panel to provide strong and reliable wallboard with good acoustic, fire-retardant, and strength properties. Earlier efforts in providing synthetic wallboard were U.S. Pat. No. 1,439,954, issued to Emerson; U.S. Pat. No. 3,284,980, issued to Dinkel; U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,909, issued to Galer; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,700, issued to Kiveech et al. There is also some discussion of this topic in the text of Concrete Technology, Neville and Broke, Lemgmen Group, Ltd.; UK, 1987.
Since such structural panels are intended to be standardized and since a great number of structural panels are necessary to build even a simple structure (such as a residential dwelling), a primary consideration in the development of any such wallboard will be the ease and cost of its manufacture. Accordingly, inherent in the considerations of devising and creating such a wallboard would be a full consideration of the means and method of its manufacture.
One significant cost is that of transportation. Structural panel is used in mass quantities for many applications and the cost of shipping is great. There is also waste inherent in breakage and over stack ing or over ordering. Raw materials are cheaper and easier to transport, it would be helpful to have the ability to manufacture the structural panel at the work site. In this way breakage during shipping and over ordering would be avoided. Additionally, it would be easier to customize the structural panel composition in order to fit unique circumstances and situations.
In the Inventor's earlier invention, U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,039, a means for manufacturing the original vermiculite board was disclosed. Such used a fibrous scrim as its surface and used Portland Cement and other traditional building cement ingredients mixed in with a vermiculite which were homogeneously mixed between the two layers of scrim. This provided a unique wallboard which had good weight, strength, fire-retardant-and moisture-resistant properties. One quality of such wallboard which was not always desirable was its surface tension. The original material, while very desirable in many respects, was brittle and required some improved capabilities to resist bending and to withstand lateral forces placed upon it This made it difficult to adapt for use as a floor material.
Accordingly, what is needed but not othewise provided in the prior art of synthetic structural panel is a reliable, strong, synthetic structural panel with good construction properties which also has a high level of surface cohesion and tension and may be manufactured efficiently and quickly. It would also be helpful to have a means and apparatus for accomplishing such quick and efficient manufacture.
What is not provided in the prior art is a synthetic structural panel which has superior qualities to resistance to lateral forces. Also not provided in the prior art is an efficient method and apparatus for manufacturing such a board. Also not provided in the prior art is such a manufacturing method and apparatus which can be moved to a construction site.